My garage door torsion spring relocation is NOT going well.
First, I tried to relocate the spring anchor plate 18" to
the left where I 'thought' there was wood - but that turned
out to be a solid steel beam!
Then, I moved it 12" to the right, where I 'thought' there
was a cripple stud - but - it was just a flimsy piece of wood:
Here is a picture of the relocation:

Here is a closeup of that relocation:

Then, I started work on the right end bearing plate.
Amazingly, there isn't any wood ANYWHERE near it.
What I need is a thick (3 or 4 inch wide) steel plate in the
shape of a big "T" - but I could find nothing like it at
Home Depot.

QUESTION:
Q: Where can I find sheet metal in the shape of a big "T"?
Note: I need a "T" roughly about a foot long by a foot tall
by about 2 inches wide.

Exactly. Why he is reluctant to do so, we do not know. Adding all
the angle iron is giving room for more flexing IMO.
He just needs three cripple studs and bolt into the wood. Each side
and at the center.

...
Because he doesn't know what he's doing and is impervious to advice
apparently. :(
Pretty typical novice diy'er or homeowner symptom ime--for some reason
there's an unreasonable fear of opening a wall.
To OP...there's nothing to fear; just open it up so you can get where
you need to be and do what needs to be done. Putting up some sheetrock
or other wall surface later is trivial. If you do it cleanly, you can
probably even salvage the existing but it's cheap; I'd just take it out
and go on.
--

If you're not going to go at it and fix it, then just hire somebody who
will.
There ain't nothing to hurt; you've made more mess to clean up already
than a few joints will be, and it's just a garage unfinished wall, anyway.

Dan Musick at DDM Garage doors, who was the first to tell me
that my side bearing plates were moving - is the one who suggested
shoring it up with the angle irons he sent me.
He knows doors, doesn't he?

Hell if I know; don't know the man.
Angle would be fine as a cross member to mount to but you've still got
to find something to mount them to and get access to whatever it is that
is solid to be able to do so.
Neither of which you can do w/o being able to see what you got where.
Certainly just attaching them to the sheetrock or some other flimsy
blocking internally won't make any difference for more than a short time
at best, anyway.

FINAL UPDATE (as a good net citizen).
I noticed you guys were unhappy so I simply stopped asking questions
and just finished the job by immobilizing the bearing end plates and
relocating & then securing the spring anchor plate.
I had to take down the tracks to get enough room to work and
leveled them and bolted them back together when I was done.
It turns out the other garage door has the exact same construction
as there is absolutely no wood above the doorway that is substantial.
There is no doubt of this now. It's clearly a steel-supported
structure - where the wood is only bolted to the steel for the
overhead storage area and nowhere else.
Only if you're interested, here are the final results.
1. Final view (ugly, Rube Goldberged, but relatively functional):

2. Closeup of the right bearing end plate support:

3. Closeup of the spring anchor plate new bearing from Dan:

4. Closeup of the spring anchor plate from below:

5. Closeup of the left bearing end plate support (for two doors):

6. A view of the newly relocated and reinstalled spring:

7. Looking up at the right bearing end plate new support:

8. Then spring anchor plate still bends - not much can be done:

No need to respond. I just want to close the loop as a courtesy
to all that helped, and, also in case someone with similar
problems wishes to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Thanks for your help. I'm not sure why anonymity gets folks
so angry - but - I've been on the net for decades, and have
learned looooong ago not to sling mud. I thank you all for
your advice - and I hope you realize I was responsive (until
people got nasty) - and that I answered all your queries for
more information - and I followed all the advice EXCEPT the
ripping out of the walls.
In the end, it's clear as night and day the garage is NOT a
wood-framed structure - and that the original garage door
installers had the same problem that I did and they simply
left the top foot of EVERY door unbolted.
I've rectified that. It's not pretty. It's not even fully
functional - but it is MUCH BETTER than it was before!
For that, I thank you all!

FINAL UPDATE (as a good net citizen).
I noticed you guys were unhappy so I simply stopped asking questions
and just finished the job by immobilizing the bearing end plates and
relocating & then securing the spring anchor plate.
I had to take down the tracks to get enough room to work and
leveled them and bolted them back together when I was done.
It turns out the other garage door has the exact same construction
as there is absolutely no wood above the doorway that is substantial.
There is no doubt of this now. It's clearly a steel-supported
structure - where the wood is only bolted to the steel for the
overhead storage area and nowhere else.
Only if you're interested, here are the final results.
1. Final view (ugly, Rube Goldberged, but relatively functional):

2. Closeup of the right bearing end plate support:

3. Closeup of the spring anchor plate new bearing from Dan:

4. Closeup of the spring anchor plate from below:

5. Closeup of the left bearing end plate support (for two doors):

6. A view of the newly relocated and reinstalled spring:

7. Looking up at the right bearing end plate new support:

8. Then spring anchor plate still bends - not much can be done:

No need to respond. I just want to close the loop as a courtesy
to all that helped, and, also in case someone with similar
problems wishes to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Thanks for your help. I'm not sure why anonymity gets folks
so angry - but - I've been on the net for decades, and have
learned looooong ago not to sling mud. I thank you all for
your advice - and I hope you realize I was responsive (until
people got nasty) - and that I answered all your queries for
more information - and I followed all the advice EXCEPT the
ripping out of the walls.
In the end, it's clear as night and day the garage is NOT a
wood-framed structure - and that the original garage door
installers had the same problem that I did and they simply
left the top foot of EVERY door unbolted.
I've rectified that. It's not pretty. It's not even fully
functional - but it is MUCH BETTER than it was before!
For that, I thank you all!

FINAL UPDATE (as a good net citizen).
I noticed you guys were unhappy so I simply stopped asking questions
and just finished the job by immobilizing the bearing end plates and
relocating & then securing the spring anchor plate.
I had to take down the tracks to get enough room to work and
leveled them and bolted them back together when I was done.
It turns out the other garage door has the exact same construction
as there is absolutely no wood above the doorway that is substantial.
There is no doubt of this now. It's clearly a steel-supported
structure - where the wood is only bolted to the steel for the
overhead storage area and nowhere else.
Only if you're interested, here are the final results.
1. Final view (ugly, Rube Goldberged, but relatively functional):

2. Closeup of the right bearing end plate support:

3. Closeup of the spring anchor plate new bearing from Dan:

4. Closeup of the spring anchor plate from below:

5. Closeup of the left bearing end plate support (for two doors):

6. A view of the newly relocated and reinstalled spring:

7. Looking up at the right bearing end plate new support:

8. Then spring anchor plate still bends - not much can be done:

No need to respond. I just want to close the loop as a courtesy
to all that helped, and, also in case someone with similar
problems wishes to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Thanks for your help. I'm not sure why anonymity gets folks
so angry - but - I've been on the net for decades, and have
learned looooong ago not to sling mud. I thank you all for
your advice - and I hope you realize I was responsive (until
people got nasty) - and that I answered all your queries for
more information - and I followed all the advice EXCEPT the
ripping out of the walls.
In the end, it's clear as night and day the garage is NOT a
wood-framed structure - and that the original garage door
installers had the same problem that I did and they simply
left the top foot of EVERY door unbolted.
I've rectified that. It's not pretty. It's not even fully
functional - but it is MUCH BETTER than it was before!
For that, I thank you all!

I read through and saw many pictures.
I was not able to give a good answer other than
making sure the center bearing and end plates do not move.
They do need to be fastened to solid blocking with good anchoring lags.
I always drill a size of the shank and let the threads eat into the wood.
I did a test and found that a lag just screwed into wood could pull out
easier than
if it was pre-drilled with a shank size bit that allowed thread bite.
In some cases I have spanned over "un-blocked" areas with flat sheet metal
to "catch "
solid blocking. Then I attach the bracket to the sheet metal.
Also the long shaft of garage doors is somewhat flexible.
It will move up and down regardless of the tightness of the anchoring
plates.
Undoing and redoing those springs is tough. Counting the right turns and
going in the correct direction
for winding is critical too.
On some doors you have a left and right wind.
Also lubrication of wheels and bearings makes a garage door last longer and
run smoother.
john
"Danny D." wrote in message
On Wed, 28 Nov 2012 07:47:24 -0600, dpb wrote:

FINAL UPDATE (as a good net citizen).
I noticed you guys were unhappy so I simply stopped asking questions
and just finished the job by immobilizing the bearing end plates and
relocating & then securing the spring anchor plate.
I had to take down the tracks to get enough room to work and
leveled them and bolted them back together when I was done.
It turns out the other garage door has the exact same construction
as there is absolutely no wood above the doorway that is substantial.
There is no doubt of this now. It's clearly a steel-supported
structure - where the wood is only bolted to the steel for the
overhead storage area and nowhere else.
Only if you're interested, here are the final results.
1. Final view (ugly, Rube Goldberged, but relatively functional):

2. Closeup of the right bearing end plate support:

3. Closeup of the spring anchor plate new bearing from Dan:

4. Closeup of the spring anchor plate from below:

5. Closeup of the left bearing end plate support (for two doors):

6. A view of the newly relocated and reinstalled spring:

7. Looking up at the right bearing end plate new support:

8. Then spring anchor plate still bends - not much can be done:

No need to respond. I just want to close the loop as a courtesy
to all that helped, and, also in case someone with similar
problems wishes to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Thanks for your help. I'm not sure why anonymity gets folks
so angry - but - I've been on the net for decades, and have
learned looooong ago not to sling mud. I thank you all for
your advice - and I hope you realize I was responsive (until
people got nasty) - and that I answered all your queries for
more information - and I followed all the advice EXCEPT the
ripping out of the walls.
In the end, it's clear as night and day the garage is NOT a
wood-framed structure - and that the original garage door
installers had the same problem that I did and they simply
left the top foot of EVERY door unbolted.
I've rectified that. It's not pretty. It's not even fully
functional - but it is MUCH BETTER than it was before!
For that, I thank you all!

Probably! :)
I had two basic choices:
- Rip it up, or,
- Cover it up.
I opted for the simplest solution - which I realize belatedly, many here
fault me for.
At least, when Dan Musick looked at the pictures, he admitted it was a
difficult situation and that my solution (which followed his advice)
will last longer than I will.
What more can we hope for than that! :)

The sheet metal angle was strong thick stuff that Dan Musick had sent me.
That angle iron was used to secure the left side cable drums.
Here, for example, is me asking you guys earlier how best to use it:

Here is the resulting use along with three Simpson "L" plates:

You'll notice there is absolutely no substantial wood anywhere in that
picture except(of course) the overhead storage shelf itself.
The first sheet metal angle was lag bolted horizontally to that overhead
storage shelf. Everything else was tied to that.
It's hard to see, but on the right side of the picture, the second
sheet metal angle is vertically bolted to the horizontal sheet metal angle.
The three Simpson L plates were added to shore up both the vertical sheet
metal angle (which had nothing underneath it that was substantial) and to
tie in the second (much larger) garage door (which you see to the left in
that picture above).
It's ugly. But it's what Dan Musick suggested. And, it's working.
(Of course, the old door setup was working also - but this is working better.)
I'm sorry if you don't like the solution. I'm not perfectly happy with it
myself; but it's what I came up with given what I had to work with, and,
it's better than it was before - and - perhaps most importantly - it should
last my lifetime (which is as much as I can ask for it to last).

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